pointments which it might think liable to great objection, was no satisfactory provision. But, forsooth, there was to be a certificate of loyalty. Now, every body knew what loyalty meant in private conversation; but, what did it mean by act of parliament? He did not know what loyalty meant in a legal sense, except that the individual, to whom the term was applied, was never convicted of a crime in a court of justice. When Dr. Doyle was asked, if, in his opinion, the proposed provision for the Catholic clergy should be inalienable, he answered yes, while they comported themselves loyally and peaceably as became subjects; and when he was asked, whether by not comporting themselves loyally and in obedience to the laws, he did not mean their being convicted by some legal court of such conduct, he replied in the affirmative. Now, really, he could not conceive a more painful duty, than for the commission to certify to the Crown the loyalty of those whom they recommended. It was a delusion also to suppose that such an arrangement would diminish the dangerous character of the corre spondence of the Catholic prelates with the see of Rome. His right hon. friend had observed, that that correspondence existed at present. True; but how different would be its character when it became sanctioned by act of parliament, instead of being carried on under the terror of severe laws which might be executed.

Between the second and the third reading of the bill, an event occurred, which had a very decided influence on the fate of the measure. On the 25th of April the duke of York rose in the House of Lords, and stated that he had been

requested to present to their lordships the petition of the dean and canons of Windsor, praying that no further concessions should be made to the Roman Catholics. He considered it unnecessary, in bringing before their lordships the petition of so learned and respectable a body, to assure them it was worded so as to ensure its reception; but before he moved that it should be read, he must be permitted to say a few words.

"Sensible," said his royal highness, as he was, of his want of habit and ability to take a part in their lordships' debates, it was not without the greatest reluctance that he ventured to trespass upon their time and attention; but he felt that there were occasions when every man owed to his country and to his station, to declare his sentiments; and no opportunity could, in his opinion, offer, which required more imperiously the frank avowal of them than the present, when their lordships were called upon to make a total change in the fundamental principle of the constitution, and, in his royal highness's view of the question, to strike at the very root of its existence.

"His royal highness observed, that twenty-eight years had elapsed since this question had been first agitated, under the most awful circumstances, while this country was engaged in a most arduous and expensive, though just and glorious war; that the agitation of it had been the cause of a most serious and alarming illness to an illustrious personage now no more, whose exalted character and virtues, and whose parental affection for his people, would render his memory ever dear to this country; that it had also produced the temporary retirement from his late majesty's

councils of one of the most able, enlightened, and most honest states men of whom this country could boast.

"Upon this question they were now called to decide; and from the first moment of its agitation to the present, his royal highness had not for one instant hesitated, or felt a doubt, as to the propriety of the line of conduct he had adopted in reference to it.

"That he must also call their lordships' attention to the great change of language and sentiments which had taken place since the subject was first introduced, among the advocates for Catholic emancipation.

"That at first the most zealous of these had cautiously and yet strenuously endeavoured to impress upon the minds of the people, that Catholic emancipation ought not to be granted without establishing strong and effectual barriers against any encroachment on the Protestant ascendancy. But how changed was now their language! Their lordships were now required to surrender every principle of the constitution, and to deliver us up, bound hand and foot, to the mercy and generosity of the Roman Catholics, without any assurance even that they would be satisfied with such fearful concessions.

"His royal highness had, upon a former occasion, taken the liberty of stating his sentiments fully upon the subject, and had endeavoured to convey to their lordships that no person was more decidedly inclined to toleration than his late majesty, but that it must be admitted there was a great difference between toleration, participation, and eman cipation. He would not now enter into this discussion, convinced as he was that if the bill should again be

brought under their consideration, its merits would be much more ably discussed by others of their lordships. There were, however, one or two points which appeared to him to have been kept out of view in the different debates that had occurred in various places, and which seemed to him of such vital importance that he could not help touching upon them.

"The first was, the situation in which the Church of England would be placed should Catholic emancipation pass. If his royal highness were mistaken, he would doubtless be set right, but he had always understood that the Established Church of England stood in a very different situation from any other religious persuasion in the world-different even from that of the sectarians in this country. The Established Church was subject to its own government, and did not admit the interference of the civil authorities. It was placed under the authority of the king as the head of it, and under the control of parliament, so much so, that the Church was not only not represented as a body in the lower House of parliament, but that no clergyman was admitted to a seat in it.

"Surely, their lordships could not wish to place the Established Church of England upon a worse footing than any other church within these realms; nor allow the Roman Catholics, who not only refused to submit to our rules, but who denied any authority of the civil power over their church to legislate for the Established Church, which must be the case if they should be admitted to seats in either House of parliament.

"The other point to which his royal highness had to advert was one he felt to be of a more delicate

nature. He must, therefore, begin by stating to their lordships that he spoke only his own individual sentiments, as he must not be supposed to utter in that House the sentiments of any other person. He was sensible that by what he was about to say, he should subject himself to the scoffs and jeers of some, and to the animadversions of others; but from speaking conscientiously his own feelings and sentiments he would by no apprehension whatever be appalled or deterred.

"That he wished to ask whether their lordships had considered the situation in which they might place the king, or whether they recollected the oath which his Majesty had taken at the altar, to his people, upon his coronation. He begged to read the words of that oath :

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"Their lordships must remember that ours was a Protestant king, who knew no mental reservation, and whose situation was different any other person in this country; that his royal highness and every other individual in this country could be released from his oath by the authority of parliament; but the king could not. The oath, as he had always understood, is a solemn obligation entered into by the person who took it, from which no act of his own could release him; but the king was the third part of the state, without whose voluntary consent no act of

the legislature could be valid, and he could not relieve himself from the obligation of an oath.

"His royal highness feared that he had already trespassed too long upon their lordships, and he thanked them for the patience with which they had heard him. If he had expressed himself too warmly, especially in the latter part of what he had said, he must appeal to their liberality. He felt the subject most forcibly, and it affected him yet more deeply, when he remembered that to its agitation must be ascribed that severe illness, and ten years of misery, which had clouded the existence of his illustrious and beloved father. He should therefore conclude with assuring their lordships that he had uttered his honest and conscientious sentiments, founded upon principles which he had imbibed from his earliest youth; to the justice of which he had subscribed, after serious consideration, when he attained more mature years; and that these were the principles to which he would adhere, andwhich he would maintain and act up to, to the latest moment of his existence, whatever might be his situation of life-So help him God."

This declaration, coming from a prince universally beloved and respected, and who was the heir presumptive to the crown, could not fail to make a deep impression both on the country and on parliament. Its effect on one class of politicians was strongly displayed, by an intemperate sally into which, on the very next night, Mr. Brougham broke out in the House of Commons. It was not for him, said he, in a debate on the proposed alteration in the Elective franchise in Ireland, to allude to what passed

in another House of parliament, except as matter of history. He had, however, heard of passages delivered in another place which gave him an alarm, not only for good government, but for the safety of the constitution of this country, and for the stability of the monarchy as by law established, and settled at the Revolution of 1688. The passages to which he alluded had given him so deep and serious alarm, that he protested before God he could not believe his ears when the news was brought to him that morning. It was impossible for him even now to believe what was stated. The papers must be filled with libels that must be false. For no man living could believe that a prince of that House, which sat on the throne by virtue of the Revolution of 1688, should promulgate to the world, that, happen what would, when he came to fill another situation, if all.

Mr. Plunkett rose, amid loud cheering from some parts of the House, and cries of order from other parts. As soon as silence was restored, he said he rose to order. The reason he had not taken an earlier opportunity of calling Mr. Brougham to order, and putting a stop to such a discussion was, that his hon. and learned friend, in alluding to what had passed on former occasions, in the early part of his speech, had declared, that he would only allude to such passages historically. When he found, however, that his hon. and learned friend was proceeding to allude to what had recently passed in the other House of parliament, and to designate the person to whom his observations applied, in terms which could not be misunderstood, he felt it to be a duty

which he owed to that House, to the illustrious personage alluded to, and to that great cause in which even now he did not cease to think his hon. and learned friend sincerely interested, to prevent him from continuing a course of observations in his present heat of temper, which, he was satisfied, he would in his calmer moments regret.

The Speaker said, that if the inference drawn by Mr. Plunkett was correct-if his anticipation of what was coming from Mr. Brougham was right-there could be no question that the latter gentleman would be out of order. It was impossible for him to define what was the order of the House more strictly than Mr. Plunkett had done, on taking up the subject which had occasioned the present interruption; and it was his business to expect, that he would not depart from what he had himself laid down.

Mr. Brougham then proceeded. He doubted not that the right hon. and learned gentleman meant nothing but kindness to him, and also to the Catholic question. At the same time, it seemed to him, that, after what had fallen from the chair, he was entitled to say that the right hon. and learned gentleman had proceeded somewhat prematurely. He had interrupted him, before the proper period had arrived. No member had a right to interrupt another, because he himself expected that that other member was going to be disorderly. Good God! was ever such a thing heard of? In the parlia ment to which the right hon. and learned gentleman formerly belonged, such a course might have been pursued; but it was the privilege of a member of an English